George Lucas Wants to Retire From Making Blockbuster Movies

By Mike Lee • January 17, 2012 • 2 Comments

There is no denying that George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise has made a huge impact on cinema. Let’s not forget that he did contribute to the Indiana Jones movie franchise. Then there’s the fact that he has Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). But it seems that the director will be taking one large step back from blockbusters and preparing for his retirement. While making the press rounds for the upcoming Red Tails, Lucas talked about the idea that he would be retiring from making blockbuster movies.

In an interview with the New York Times, Lucas gives details as to why he is retiring from movie making:

I’m retiring… I’m moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff.

And longtime Lucas producer Rick McCallum says,

Once [Red Tails] is finished, he’s done everything he’s ever wanted to do… He will have completed his task as a man and a filmmaker.

So is this really it? Maybe. The NY Times did report that Lucas did stop short of saying whether or not he would work on an Indiana Jones 5. But if he does choose to retire, it would mean that Red Tails would be his last blockbuster movie.

As to what his personal films would be, according to the report,

They’ll be small in scope, esoteric in subject and screened mostly in art houses. They’ll be like the experimental movies Lucas made in the 1960s, around the time he was at U.S.C. film school, when he recorded clouds moving over the desert and made a movie based on an E. E. Cummings poem.

It’s hard to believe that a man like George Lucas would go into retirement, but its not completely shocking. Many have called for him to retire, especially after how the Star Wars prequels turned out. But maybe a new direction is what the Star Wars franchise needs. Retiring or not, Lucas seems tired of all the hate he is getting just for making the prequels. Then again, retiring from making blockbusters may not be so bad either. He did make America Graffiti and THX 1138, the former being one of his more recognizable smaller movies. And if he is indeed thinking about making those kinds of movies, then by all means, retire from blockbusters. Just don’t retire from movie making entirely.

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